The song begins with an acoustic guitar which plays throughout the first half of the song, a real oddity in the Metallica catalog. In the years that followed, the band has received hundreds of letters from fans who could relate to the song and were able to find solace in it. The first real thrash metal ballad, the song comes from the perspective of a tortured individual contemplating suicide. The fourth song on the album is Fade to Black, and it is one of the most important songs Metallica ever wrote. The song features prominently the contributions of bassist Cliff Burton and is considered one of his great recordings. Inspired by the Earnest Hemingway poem, For Whom the Bells Tolls is about a group of soldiers forsaken on the battlefield by their leaders and left to die. The extended instrumental introduction has a progressive flavor, with the whole band weaving in an out in before the vocals come in over two minutes into the song. It’s a plodding and iconic piece of metal glory. The song in one of two on the album that give writing credits to former band mate Dave Mustaine, who was kicked out of the band before the recording of Metallica’s debut album.Ī bell ringing harkens the the third track on the album: For Whom the Bell Tolls. Over a minute and a half in length, the solo twists and turns in an exhilarating fury that represents the rush of electricity that the song threatens the narrator with. What makes Ride the Lightning one of my personal favorite Metallica songs is lead guitarist Kirk Hammett’s extended and furious guitar solo. The song is about a wrongly convicted man being sent to the electric chair, the sort of wrongful death narrative that many great metal bands write every once in a while Hallowed be Thy Name for example. Ride the Lightning is a heavy but fast paced thrill ride. The title track is the second song on the album. This is one of the fastest songs Metallica ever wrote, and that is really saying something.
The song concerns itself with nuclear armageddon and the eye for an eye brinksmanship games that countries play with each other that could potentially lead to a global catastrophe. Drummer Lars Ulrich’s trademark double bass never sounded fiercer. The song then bursts forth with one of the most furious riffs ever conceived by singer/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield. Well it actually begins with a melodic acoustic intro, which must have thrown off many Metallica fans off when they first listened to it. Anger).įight Fire With Fire is the lead track off the album and it begins with a bang. Despite being recorded in only 3 weeks, the album sounds miles better than some of Metallica’s later efforts (I’m looking at you Justice and St. The guitars, bass, and drums all have a layered depth to the sound that few bands are privileged enough to achieve on their second album. The mix employed by producer Flemming Rasmussen is perfect. Paramount to the album’s success is that Ride the Lightning is one of he best sounding metal albums ever. Written and released in 1984, Ride the Lightning was the template for the trilogy of releases (itself, Master of Puppets, and …and Justice For All) that would go down as some of the genre’s finest. Our subject last week was punk rock so this time we are going metal, and it really is one of the best metal albums of all time. The album in question is Metallica’s sophomore release Ride the Lightning.
#LISTEN TO METALLICA RIDE THE LIGHTNING SERIES#
For the first time in this series we are stepping out of the 70’s and profiling an album from a different decade, hopefully a trend that I can keep up.